ShooterMcGrabbin
Forum Replies Created
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THIS GUY FUQS!!!
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You da man Walter!
Hard to tell from that Pic but is that a bull drum I see?
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killed it!
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Honestly I think you learned more on this trip than you realize. Those “grind” trips where you eliminate water and start understanding timing/conditions are what eventually make guys consistently good in Lake B and eastern Lake P.
A few things stand out from your report:
The chocolate milk in eastern Lake P probably killed that bite before you even started. Between recent west wind, rain, and all the stirred-up water around Chef, that area can go from decent to dead fast. If you aren’t seeing at least SOME cleaner green mixing water around points or current seams, it’s usually not worth spending too much time there for trout.
Your adjustment toward Lake B was actually the right move. The fact that you still scratched a 16” trout around the wellheads tells me the salinity and bait are there — just not concentrated yet. A single keeper in that area this time of year is usually a sign there are more around, but they may be:
-suspended
-feeding higher in the column
-ORR only turning on during very short windows
One thing I’d recommend on those rigs and wellheads: don’t get too locked into fishing tight to the structure. A lot of times in Lake B the better trout are actually 30-100 yards off the rig roaming bait schools. Especially lately with cleaner/saltier conditions, they’ve been spreading out more.
Your bait choice wasn’t wrong, but I think you may have been a little finesse-heavy for that dirty water.
In stained Lake B water I’d lean bigger profile plastics, louder corks, or even live shrimp (as a locator only)
The biggest takeaway in your post is actually this:
“More time on the water.”
TOW = 100% the answer in these areas.
Lake Borgne and eastern Lake P reward pattern recognition more than anything.
Eventually you start noticing:
-which rigs fire on west wind
-which shorelines clean up first
-which tide stage positions trout
-when to abandon an area quickly
And honestly, you already made one of the hardest steps = getting out of your comfort zone and making new runs instead of recycling the same marsh spots every trip.
Also, don’t sleep on that Alligator
Point/wellhead area in September-November. On the right tide and salinity -
That’s honestly a pretty solid day for late May/early June with kids onboard, especially with the conditions we’ve had lately. A few things stand out from your report that may help you dial in more keeper trout next trip:
- The trout are clearly still stacked in the marsh on smaller bait. When you found the birds and school trout around that little island near 9 Mile, that was the biggest clue of the day. Usually when you’re catching 10-12” trout nonstop under birds this time of year, the better fish are either: nearby on slightly deeper structure (drain edge, oyster edge, current seam), or feeding earlier/later than the schoolies.
- Blind Bay and central Borne can be tough right now unless you have very specific shell or current. A lot of the “community reefs” are hit hard and if tide movement is weak, they just don’t set up well. Don’t get discouraged by not seeing much on side scan — many of those reefs are low relief and hard to distinguish unless your settings are dialed in.
- Your biggest missed opportunity may have been slowing down around that marsh bait activity. After catching school trout under birds, I would’ve: backed off with Power Poles/trolling motor, switched one rod to a live shrimp or 3” soft plastic under a cork, and fan casted the nearby edges for better fish.
Often the keepers sit 30-80 yards off the main frenzy.
- The rigs around the CSX bridge area have been very inconsistent lately unless tide is really moving. Croaker and drum usually mean the salinity and bait are there, but the trout are either suspended higher or feeding in shorter windows. Dawn and the first 1-2 hours of falling tide tend to be much better there.
- Don’t overlook the shoreline from Comfort Island down toward False Mouth Bay and Three Mile. With the river staying lower and salinity improving, a lot of those outer marsh shorelines are setting up more like the old-school late 90s/early 2000s patterns again.
A few things I’d try next trip:
- Smaller plastics (Matrix Shad, Down South, LSU Chub style colors)
- 1/4 oz instead of 3/8 unless current is ripping
- Fish cleaner moving water instead of open dead water
- Spend more time around bait activity instead of hopping too quickly
- Early morning: topwater around marsh points before switching subsurface
Most importantly, your kids watched corks disappear all day and caught fish nonstop. That’s a successful trip regardless of box count. The keeper ratio improves once you start identifying where the larger trout position relative to those school fish.
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Big lake is next on my destination list for trophy trout.
I feel like it’s a little late in the season to find them but this report gives me hope.
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Congrats on your PB and great report. It’s like riding a bike.
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Great report and yeah it’s on fire in Breton right now, and there’s plenty that haven’t made it outside yet. Hate to hear about that TurboRonnie ruining your bite. But 25″ is a DONKEY! You made the right call going today vs. this weekend. It’s gonna be a madhouse.
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Just the beginning for all of us.
Here soon people will say, remember when Shooter caught that 7lber and we thought that was a big fish?
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Thank you sir.
TBH I debated on posting it or not but I owe a lot to this group and so once I got about halfway down I couldn’t stop myself.
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Green hornet on 3/8 death grip
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I miss you buddy.
That is all.
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Thanks Geremy and thank you for all your support on the channel. You’re the real MVP!
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It’s all because of you and I know you well enough (now) that you’ll deny any credit but you know and I know and that’s all that matters.
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Thank you sir!
That’s the problem with winning your own personal superbowl. I gotta do it every year now!
